Jamie-Lee Rahiri

Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whātua, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi

Dr Jamie-Lee Rahiri works as a surgeon and researcher to improve Māori well-being and experiences in healthcare. Throughout her time in healthcare, she has witnessed how vulnerable Māori are within the health system, and she is determined to change this.

Jamie-Lee completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, in 2014 and then went on to complete her PhD on Māori experiences of weight loss surgery in Auckland. Her studies looked past the medical aspects to understand how the negative societal views of these procedures impact Māori post-surgery.

As Māori surgeons make up less than 1% of the medical workforce, Jamie-Lee also works to build a pro-equity and culturally safe surgical workforce. She has received a $30,000 grant from the Health Research Council to start Te Piringa Kōtuku, an independent Māori surgical research and training institute. This mahi encourages rangatahi to study surgery and for mentors to support them through their studies. Rahiri herself had mentors who supported her and inspired her to pursue surgery.

Jamie-Lee’s recently contributed to a research paper called The Surgical Sisterhood, which recognised that despite a push for diversity in surgery, discussions of gender diversity in surgery still largely exclude Indigenous women. This study follows how mana wāhine and Masi methods support women in the surgical sisterhood through their advanced surgical training.

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He Rangatira Our Leaders

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Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hako

“He kai kei nāna ringa” - She has kai at the end of her hands

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In her work, Genevieve is committed to bridging the inequity gap between Māori and non-Māori, particularly in secondary mental health services; she would also like to see Māori whanau overrepresented in education and underrepresented in all other negative statistics.

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As a midwife, Kaniwa Kupenga-Tamarama is passionate about supporting women in their most vulnerable, intimate, and sacred moments.

Aroha Ruha-Hiraka

Ngāti Awa, Ngai Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa

Growing up with Te Reo as her first language and through kōhanga reo and kura Kaupapa, Aroha believes health interventions are already within pūrākau and traditional Māori practices.